In Gabon, voters headed to the polls on Saturday for the first round of legislative and local elections, following ten days of campaigning.

About 1,600 candidates are contesting 145 parliamentary seats, while nearly 17,000 are competing for municipal and departmental positions. The elected councillors will go on to choose mayors, heads of departmental assemblies, and senators.

The vote is being closely watched as a key step in Gabon’s political transition after the 2023 coup that ended more than five decades of Bongo family rule. Transitional leader Brice Oligui Nguema, who won April’s presidential election by a landslide, is seeking to consolidate his authority through these polls.

More than twenty political parties are taking part, including Nguema’s Democratic Union of Builders and the long-established Gabonese Democratic Party, founded by former president Omar Bongo. The Interior Ministry says it is committed to ensuring a free, fair, and transparent process, with international observers monitoring the vote.